This Isn’t Oz

… and you’re not Dorothy.  Ouch!

Did you ever have a time when you spend days and days in prayer waiting for God to give you an answer?  I know I have many times, and this week was another one of them.

In preparing for today I thought the Lord was giving me direction in a certain area, but as I prayed and read the word nothing was coming into place.  I felt as if there was this curtain like in the Wizard of Oz, blocking everything and keeping me from God. If I could separate it I would get to God and gain understanding as to what was happening in my life.

“God I need to hear your voice, talk to me.” I pleaded, but the curtain never moved.

Welcome new friends this week from:

See if your city/state/country made the list. 

New on DFB –Peru; Hungary; South Korea; Singapore; Japan; Amsterdam, Holland; Abbotsford, BC, Canada; Rome, Lazio, Italy; Belgrade, Serbia; Guatemala; Honduras; Lebanon; Sri Lanka; Greece; Venezuela; Pakistan; Aguascalientes, Mexico and Papua, New Guinea. 

USA –  Booneville, AR; Florence and McBee, SC; Bayonne and Harrison, NJ; Soddy Daisy, TN; Bell Gardens, CA; Portage and Muskegon, MI; Slippery Rock, PA.  

If I left anyone out please let me know.  Thank you for your continued support and sharing this Outer Journey on Daily Favor.  (DFB - Daily Favor Blog) 

You are welcome to leave comments or prayer requests below.  All are private. I would love to hear from you and how Daily Favor has worked in your life.  Contact me by leaving a message in the box at the bottom of this week’s post.  

Don't miss out on this week's challenge (below).

Visit the Q & A.

You Do Have A Brain, Use It

Over the weekend and into Monday night I concentrated on the mercy of the Lord, which is a good thing, but I felt it was for me and not this post.  I kept looking up verses, praying and couldn’t get the “new thing” that we talked about previously.

Conversations that I had with people the last few days kept rolling through my head.  I wondered why in the world did those particular subjects come up in the discussions?

Finally it was time to go to bed, well not really. It was time for the “night watch” on my husband as he slept.

I started to read Psalm 33 again on my electronic Bible, but shut it off and got up to get a “real” one. 

Thumbing through the concordance I was looking for scriptures that referred to moving on, but instead found the word “meditate”.

My resistance was low and I felt like the stuffing had been knocked out of me, being pulled emotionally in every direction.  Here the “Scarecrow” found some information that God was trying to reveal. 

God reminded me that we weren’t getting revelation to the new thing He was doing, because we had been focusing on scriptures we already knew.  The devil knew that and was counting on our not putting things together.

If the Lord was taking us into new areas then it would make sense that I had to build on what I knew, not relax on past teachings.  That curtain was now opening and I didn’t like what I was thinking. 

Not Real Lion Hearted

Every few minutes I checked my husband.  I was feeling this ritual’s side effects of not sleeping as something tried to come on me health wise. 

In my talk to the Lord I started to cry and repented for being such a coward and not having courage.  I wanted God to get me out of the situation rather than trust Him to see us through.

He spoke up and asked, “Why are you crying?”  I didn’t want to admit it, but I had to … He already knew what I was feeling.

“OK, I’m afraid.  I’ve been battling with not giving in to fear, but it’s so hard.  You know what the doctor said. My husband hasn’t fulfilled his “big” calling.  If you would just come and take us out of this world, everything would be fine.” 

My husband had no idea about my feelings.  They started to emerge the other day when I couldn’t wake him and his body was cold.  Ever since the surgery his body temperature drops at night, but he didn’t know that.

My Heart Wasn’t Right

Here is where He had me search my tin heart.  God showed me that even though I didn’t have the answers I needed yet I knew to meditate on His word until they came. 

Our conversation continued.

“What you are feeling isn’t of Me. I did not give you the spirit of fear (but power, love and a sound mind).” is what I heard in my spirit. 

I knew that, of course I knew that.  I immediately thought of James chapter one on wavering, “Let not that man think they will receive anything from the Lord.”

Then more verses popped into my remembrance; scriptures on trust, perfect love and peace.  All things I have meditated on in the past, all but one, the passage I showed nurse Sharon on Tuesday.

Psalm 33 starts out like this:

“Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous; for praise is becoming and appropriate for those who are upright in heart.” (That’s me, right?) Verse three: “Sing to Him a new song …” This would go along with the new thing He is doing in our lives I thought.

“For the Word of the Lord is right; and all His work is done in faithfulness.  The Lord looks from Heaven, He beholds all the sons of men; From His dwelling place He looks intently upon all the inhabitants of the earth.  He Who fashions the hearts of them all, Who considers all their doings.”

God is watching what I’m doing and noting how His favor should be distributed by my actions.  Have I tied His hands?

“Behold, the Lord’s eye is upon those who fear Him, who wait for Him and hope in His mercy (there’s that word) and loving-kindness.  To deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.”

Do you know how many times I’ve read this scripture just this year?  Enough that I should have seen this.  For months I have been reading this very passage, dwelling on it and putting my hope in the mercy of God to give us the strength we needed.  I never noticed the part “to deliver them from death.”

The Wicked One

“Our inner selves wait earnestly for the Lord; He is our Help and our Shield. For in Him does our heart rejoice, because we have trusted (relied on and been confident) in His Holy name.”

Each night I thank God that His favor surrounds us like a shield, and rely on Him to carry us through the night keeping us from the storms. 

The wicked one (devil) wanted me to forget that and stand in fear waiting for my husband to draw each breath.

This is where God showed me the curtain I had put up before Him.

“Let Your mercy and loving-kindness, O Lord, be upon us, in proportion to our waiting and hoping for You.” (Psalm 33:1,3,4,13-15,19-22 Amp)

When I showed this to Sharon I asked her if she got what it meant. She said, “I think so.”  We agreed and both thought how scary it was to be in that position.

This verse reminds me of the prayer that Jesus taught when He said, “Forgive us our debt, trespasses as we forgive others.”  Everyone gets that message. If we don’t forgive we won’t be forgiven either.  God was showing me a verse I had been studying in a new way … the new thing was revealed.

God wasn’t holding back His favor from me in giving me answers.  I was.  I determined the answers by my actions. His mercy in delivering us was being measured unto me according to the way I was waiting in hope on Him. 

Mercy Proportion Be on Me

“Let Your mercy be on me in proportion to my waiting and hoping for Your answers.” 

I was getting exactly what I was giving to Him in my faith.  When the doctor gave us his report this week we were shaken by what he said.  I saw the look in my husband’s eyes and it was as if the doctor sucked out any joy or hope we had when he said, “There’s nothing I can do for you.”

God measured out His mercy and favor based on the measure I showed toward trusting Him over the reports we heard.  His proportions can only be what we have faith for as we wait on Him.  Our faith and trust is something that He sees and measures.

...according to your faith, be it unto you ... Jesus said. That measure determines our mercy (and favor) proportion.

Peace Was at Home

If I had not been in the word, even though I didn’t know what I needed at the time, God wouldn’t have had a way to direct me to that passage.  He won’t bring something to your memory that wasn’t initially learned.  The Lord does give revelation and insight, but it is based on His Word.

Without God's Word in us, satan will toss us about thinking we are lost and hopeless.

My answers came through meditating on the word of God, just as He said it would.  It was right where I started all along, not the Emerald City meaning a place where God cannot be reached.

Peace came when I meditated on His Word, because it reminded me in whom I trusted. God is watching over my husband to deliver him from harm.

This Week’s Challenge:

Meditate on the Word

God has something wonderful planned for us and we have to be prepared with answers. 

Last week we looked up scriptures that directly applied to our situations. Each of us had different things we needed to study.

Now we are going to take those passages and do what God instructed until they become part of us, giving way to that new thing the Lord is doing in our lives.

“This book of the Law (the Bible) shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success.

Have not I commanded you? Be strong, vigorous, and very courageous. Be not afraid, neither be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:8-9 Amp)

As you meditate on those things He has shown you, ask God to direct you and shine light on what you have been studying.  He will reveal an answer that was right in front of you, but the wicked one has tricked you into putting up that curtain of doubt. 

We have hope, a rainbow of wonderful promises from God that extend far beyond what we can ask or think.

God knows that we sometimes fall into fear of the unknown. Trust Him, because nothing is secret to Him. 

Our success for this outward journey depends on us meditating on God’s Word day and night.  Show the Lord that your proportion of hope in Him is great, and watch how He measures out His mercy and favor on your situation. 

“But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and in His law does he meditate day and night.” (Psalm 1:2)

Let the Words of My Mouth by Fernando Ortega

Until next time, may your faith measure highly in God’s favor.

“My favor measure is great.”

– Jesus Christ

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